Schoenborn hearing for high-risk designation delayed four weeks

The application to have the man who killed his three children in Merritt in 2008 named “high risk accused” was heard in Supreme Court today.

The fact Allan Schoenborn killed his children has never been challenged.

He was found not criminally responsible in 2012 for those killings.

Lawyers today agreed to delay a hearing in Canada’s first attempt to designate a mentally ill man as “high-risk accused”.

Schoenborn was granted escorted outings back in May which prompted the Crown and the family to apply for the designation.

The application would reverse the decision by a panel of the B.C. Review Board granting Schoenborn escorted community outings.

What does “high-risk accused” mean?

The designation would mean the period of time between reviews on his freedom could be extended by up to 36 months. It doesn’t mean he’s never allowed to leave the hospital, but only for medical reasons.
The hearing is September 10th.

Bill C-14 Amendment to Criminal Code

The “high-risk” application is based on the new amendment to the Criminal Code “to enable a finding of “high-risk accused” for adult persons who have been found NCR for a prescribed serious personal injury offence.”

For the application to success, the Crown must establish either:

that there is a substantial likelihood an accused will use violence that could endanger the life or safety of another person; or,

that the offences the accused committed were of such a brutal nature, they indicate a risk of grave physical or psychological harm to others (section 672.64(1) Criminal Code).